I would also like to have this feature. Id like to have a button, or set of buttons that selects a playback device. Alternatively, A drop-down menu like the one in the prefs pane would be good to have as a standalone UI element.

I'm happy to admit I don't know the details, but I'm always sceptical of the impossible. If there's a list in the preferences why can't there be an identical list in a UI element, or when right-clicking the taskbar icon? Is it because Foobar2000 needs the user to push "OK" after changes preferences?

A quick image search reveals a couple of different approaches to quickly change the output device. Of these limited options, I prefer the one where the list is shown by right clicking an icon, but the solution is global. Maybe it doesn't work well, I don't know.

I read a comment about something (unspecified) only enumerating devices at start-up, but USB soundcards are plug and play in Windows, so I guess it must be Foobar2000 which only enumerates at start-up. I'm fine with a list which is only as up-to-date as the last time the player was started, and if this is the case then nothing lost, as it'd be what we have now anyway.

Am I missing something? I feel like I'm going to get shot down (rightly or wrongly).

EDIT: I've started looking into virtual soundcards. If Foobar2000 won't do this then surely it's possible to point Foobar2000 to an output plugin which itself can be pointed to different audio devices on the fly (maybe via an integrated UI element).

I've started looking into virtual soundcards. If Foobar2000 won't do this then surely it's possible to point Foobar2000 to an output plugin which itself can be pointed to different audio devices on the fly (maybe via an integrated UI element).

Does anyone know of a plugin that takes up minimal space and lets me change the output audio device? I use the default UI, not the Columns UI.

What I did is add a custom button on the toolbar that takes me right to the audio device preferences screen. Works pretty well. Right click on the toolbar to bring up the "customize buttons" menu. I found more button icons by poking around online. If I could figure out how to post a screen shot here (or if such is allowed), I would.N.